What are some good tips to increase a credit score in the 720-740?
I have been successfully working on my credit for the past couple of years but seem to have hit a wall. I've been stuck between 720 and 740 and am wondering if there are new strategies I should be employing to move my score up further or if its just a matter of patience at this point.
Answers ( 1 )
https://wallethub.com/credit-score-range/750-credit-score/
How to improve your credit score to 750 & beyond.
Always Pay Your Bills on Time: Payment history is the most important part of any credit score because it directly answers the question of whether a lender can expect to get its money back from you. Missed payments are the trademark of a risky borrower, indicating irresponsibility and potential financial distress.
Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt: Credit card debt is extremely costly, and we collectively owe way too much of it right now. Having a lot of debt puts pressure on your finances, making missed payments more likely. It also makes you a riskier candidate to borrow because you will have less income and fewer assets available to afford a new loan or line of credit. And that is exactly what credit scores measure. Paying off credit card debt will also reduce your credit utilization, which is a key ingredient in your credit score.
Reduce Your Credit Utilization: People with credit scores in the 800s use less than 5% of their available credit, according to Vantage Score, while people with scores from 701 to 750 have 27% credit utilization. You want to keep your credit utilization below 30% on all your credit card accounts. And the lower it is, the better. There are a few ways to improve your credit utilization. You can charge less to your credit cards. You can make bigger monthly payments if you do not always pay in full already. You can also pay your bill multiple times per month to reduce the balance listed on your monthly statement, which is what is used to calculate credit utilization.
Take Advantage of Free Credit Monitoring: while free credit monitoring will not prevent such things from happening, it will make sure you know about them immediately.
Pay Down Debt: The average American household has roughly $8,000 in credit card debt. That type of burden can quickly become unmanageable, leading to missed payments, default, collections accounts and other types of negative information being added to your credit report. So, the more debt you have relative to your income, the riskier you will seem to lenders. And since that is exactly what a credit score measures, paying off amounts owed generally leads to credit score gains.
Avoid Hard Inquiries: Each time you apply for a loan or line of credit, there’s a “hard inquiry” on your credit report, when the lender reviews your credit history to see if you qualify. That hard inquiry can lower your credit score slightly for about six months. So, if an 850-credit score is your aim, take note that applying for credit could affect your timeline.